Zarif:

Iran's influence in region due to nation's resistance

TEHRAN (defapress) – On a visit to the Balkans, Iran’s foreign minister said among Iranians in Belgrade, Serbia that US and Europe consider Iran as an influential country in the region, adding that people are behind Iran’s strength.

News ID: 68893

Date: 27 February 2018 - 10:50

Speaking on Monday, Mohammad Javad Zarif added “we all owe Iran’s people. It was the people who made the Islamic Republic of Iran so powerful.”

He stated "despite all the shortcomings and problems, it is the calmest and safest country in the region," adding “we need to know why we were able to reach that great amount of power and security despite all the oppression and sanctions over the past 40 years.”

Iran’s minister of foreign affairs said “today US and Europe consider Iran as an influential country in the region. All of this is direct result of people’s support.”

"We are now in a position that nobody can set conditions for us unlike some other countries,” Zarif pointed out.

Elsewhere in his address to the Iranians living in Belgrade, Iran’s foreign minister said that Iranians from every religion and ethnicity, love Iran from the bottom of their hearts and are ready to sacrifice their lives for it.

He stressed that Iranians living abroad should feel at home when they go to Iran’s embassies across the world.

Saying that the most severe US sanctions did not manage to bring Iranians to their knees, the minister of foreign affairs added "the sanctions were aimed at separating people from the government, but people foiled their plot.”

At the end of his remarks, Zarif referred to the nuclear deal saying “the guy [Donald Trump] who wanted to rip it to shreds as his first priority and considered it the worst deal in American history, has not been able to do so after a year and two months for fear of possible expenses.”